More Than We Know

November 4, 1990

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Scripture: Revelation 7:9-17; I John 3:1-3

There is something very special to me about this day each year.... something moving and emotionally gripping. Somehow this year it seems especially so. All Saints’ Day, or All Hallow’s Day, as it used to be called in the Church calendar, is a kind of memorial Sunday. It’s when we pause to remember and pay tribute to those of our fellowship who have gone before us, back home as it were to a new and more intimate relationship with the Heavenly Father.

Every year there are some. This year, or since November 5, 1989, there are 18. And as we read those names, which are not just names, the personalness of it seems so strong.... THESE ARE OUR OWN, these are a part of us; these have been members of the family, our family, the Body of Christ.

 It seems strange to read those names and realize they’re not here, physically, any longer....

Charlie and Ellie ought to be sitting right down there, behind Louise. That’s where they always sat, usually coming early to settle in. You could look out through the little hole in the screen and see them. Long before the service began, you knew they were pulling for you. Charlie would send along a note every now and then, with some comment, or point he wanted to pursue....

A great spirit! He and Ellie were married 52 years and died, within about a month of each other.... Gosh, I miss them.

I miss Evelyn, she of the bright eye-twinkle, and the sharp retort. Evelyn could spot presumptuousness a mile away, and knew how to puncture it with the skill of a true artist. She was fun to be around.

And Eunice. Oh, my, Eunice. I can see her now, as she was last Christmas, at 93, not able, any longer to read the words on the page of the Christmas carols but not needing to. She’d close her eyes and sing all the stanzas by heart.

And Carolyn, surely the world’s most gracious lady, maybe the prettiest, too...quiet, composed, refined.... And Lloyd...you couldn’t call him quiet--- but a man who loved life, loved people, loved Dot.

Those of you newer in the Church didn’t know Helen, probably. In these latter years she was pretty much confined to her room at the Towers, except when she had to go to the Hospital. But that woman’s story reads like something out of the Book of Acts....

Missionary on 2 continents...make it 3, because she was a missionary here, too, for as long as there was breath in her body...a woman who lived her life for God, undergoing unbelievable hardship and privation to take the love of Christ to the poorest of the poor around the world.

It’s a great class, this group of 18 people. I can’t tell individual stories about each one, though I’m greatly tempted to. I wish there were time for that. There were some strong personalities among them..... some remarkable success stories, some fierce determination, some moving acts of valor. Family members and close friends know. As we honor them, we also honor ourselves, because it’s people like these, and, indeed, it IS these people, who contributed in enduring ways to make this congregation what it is now.

We’ll miss them. Of course, we’ll miss them. We already miss them. AND YET, it is important to remember that at the heart of our faith is the conviction that our separation from these brothers and sisters in Christ is not a permanent separation.

WE ARE EASTER PEOPLE, we followers of Christ.... We are resurrection people, molded by a historical event... people for whom what happened one Sunday morning 2000 years ago, in a garden tomb halfway around the world, not only changed the day on which we gather to worship BUT BROKE THE COURSE OF HUMAN HISTORY IN HALF.

That’s the glorious truth that resounds through an All Saints’ Day celebration, and that’s why what we’re doing today, in spite of our personal sense of loss, is more than an exercise of futile lament.

The Resurrection of the Carpenter of Nazareth doesn’t keep other people from dying....

We are not exempt from death, because He rose...any of us..... We, too, just as these 18; still have to die...maybe a lot sooner than we think.

But we do have, because He rose, a clearer, more realistic view of death. At Easter we saw it UNMASKED. We know now that there is a limit to its jurisdiction.... IT DOESN’T HAVE THE LAST WORD. We know there’s something more powerful than death... something stronger.

So, when we say good bye to our loved ones at the grave, we are not issuing a final and total farewell, with no hope of ever being together again.... We are rather in faith committing them into the loving hands of a CONQUEROR of death, One who not only overcomes, but OVERFLOWS with an unbelievable abundance of compassionate grace.

Now, to be sure, questions remain, even abound. We all have them. Do we know anything about that Beyond, that Land out there, to whom our loved ones who have preceded us in death have gone? Do we have any details about what it’s like, what to expect, what to look for, any details about what awaits them...or us?

I think the only correct answer has to be WE DON’T KNOW VERY MUCH. What the Bible tells is in some ways disappointingly sketchy. Of all the Christian doctrines, of all the teachings of the Church, the doctrine of Life After Death, apart from a firm insistence on the FACT of life after death, is the one doctrine about which the New Testament is the most reticent.

Jesus left us a few, tantalizing hints----“In my Father’s house are many mansions”,

John said he said. “I go to prepare a place for you...” Not much more by way of specifics.

Paul, good Jew that he was, saturated as he was in the Hebrew concept of the psychosomatic unity of personality, couldn’t conceive of life---ANY life---apart from a body....

So he said God is going to give us NEW bodies in that new situation, celestial, heavenly, spiritual bodies, something incorruptible, to take the place of these old, physical things we’re strapped with here. AND THERE ARE A COUPLE OF OTHER NEW TESTAMENT PASSAGES THAT MAY OFFER SOME HINTS FOR US IN THE WAY OF SUGGESTIVE POSSIBILITIES ABOUT THE LIFE THAT IS TO COME.

They’re both Lectionary readings for this Sunday, selected for All Saints’ Day. I read them a moment ago, one from the Apocalypse, that fanciful, brilliant vision of the future written when Domitian was persecuting the Church, and the other from the Epistle of First John, probably written by the author of the Fourth Gospel.

What strikes you with such force when you read the 2 accounts separately and then together is how different they are... how unlike they are, in tone, in content, in almost every way. The Apocalyptic writing, the Revelation’s passage, is detailed, intense, filled with imagery.

Little is left to the imagination.... Read it and see sharply etched the throng of those who have died in the Lord, the great multitude, clothed in white robes, holding palm branches in their hands, crying aloud in praise and thanksgiving to the Lamb, the Risen Christ, who sits in triumph on the throne.

Now of course this is picture language the writer is using, it’s religious language, filled with religious symbolism. To us it seems bizarre, unrealistic, pageant-like, WHICH IS PRECISELY HOW IT’S SUPPOSED TO SEEM. It’s one man’s vision, inspired vision, of something beyond the capacity of the human mind to represent--- THE SPLENDOR OF THE LIFE OF THE DEPARTED SAINTS, REUNITED ON THE FAR SIDE OF DEATH WITH THEIR BLESSED REDEEMER.

Contrast the radiance and luster of that image with the much more modest imagery of First John--- “But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

How subdued by contrast to the other picture...no exaggeration at all. BOTH WRITERS ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THING...life after death, life beyond the grave, the experience of what we call heaven, or everlasting life, the very culmination of the human pilgrimage. BUT HOW DIFFERENT THEIR REPRESENTATIONS... the one spells it out----the other only hints; the one specifies------the other only suggests; the one depicts--------the other merely intimates; the one lets the reins fly-----the other holds them in; the one leaves virtually nothing to the imagination----the other leaves almost everything.

Now, granted this contrast tells us more about the individual writers than it does about heaven, more about them subjectively than about the objective reality of the Beyond, I want to suggest that when we look more closely at the two word pictures, we can find in them some spiritual truth and comfort that is well worth preserving, not only when we think about those who have outrun us to the Father’s house, those who are already there, BUT ALSO FOR US WHO IN SUCH A SHORT TIME WILL FOLLOW THEM.

1) And I note first of all, implied in both accounts, the close, intimate connection between the present life and the life that is to come...how closely related they are to each other.

There is discontinuity, to be sure, unexpectedness, surprise, and that’s what is usually emphasized in discussions of heaven, but here the CONTINUITY, in both cases, is even more strongly stressed...especially, perhaps, in John’s letter. “We are God’s children now...whatever else may yet come...WE’LL STILL BE GOD’S CHILDREN.” Isn’t that magnificent?

John isn’t very flamboyant about it...certainly less than the author of the Apocalypse, but he’s not one iota less positive.

The relationship with God established on this side of the grave is the relationship which pertains beyond it. What’s more, the values, the standards, the ideals which are acknowledged here will be acknowledged there, except ENHANCED. In addition to being just acknowledged, they’ll be PRACTICED.

Heaven is where the perfect will of God is not just espoused but actually carried out. Jesus taught us to pray for that, when He taught us the Lord’s Prayer--- “Our Father, let your will be done...here, on earth...AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.” Let what is normative there be normative here as well.

Can we at least imagine it----In that heavenly, ideal environment, justice is never tempered with expediency, the less aggressive are never walked on, the shy are never taken advantage of, the frail are never exploited. Nor do the handicapped have to prove their worth, nor the slandered their innocence, nor the misunderstood their intent. Acceptance and expansiveness abound...and therefore JOY.

Far from being a stifled, narrow, cramped existence, where people wear long faces and are constantly afraid to express themselves, I suspect the mood will be festive, exuberant, even boisterous. That’s the mood of the Revelation passage. Real saints always live on that level, not whining about what isn’t, but reveling in what IS.

Some of the ones we honor today will probably not even be able to tell much difference.

They’ve been used to living within the Father’s will all along.... used to openness, and honesty, and caring, and living generously, and without worrying all the time about keeping score. It’s second nature to them.

Now, I need to throw in a warning here probably before you race to the recruitment table. It sounds pretty good, and it is, but what it also says to me is that if I want to be at home there, too, I’d better start concentrating NOW on doing the things that will make me at home there, doing the things of heaven, making myself fit for living there. If heaven is where His will is perfectly done, then it’s never too early to begin practicing perfection. It could be an awfully long season otherwise. IT COULD BE EXTREMELY ROUGH HAVING TO DO HIS WILL WHEN I AM STILL WRAPPED UP IN MY OWN.

I’m sure heaven will afford some surprises. But maybe one of the biggest will be the surprising CONTINUITY between this world and the next. The lessons learned here, the instruction, the insights, the values, and above all, the relationships will continue to be in operation when the next chapter comes. We are God’s children NOW...in the new dimension, we’ll still be.

2) Now again, in these two contrasting word pictures of the Beyond, so different in tone and style, there is the intimation, isn’t there, that there will be an opportunity for further ongoing development.

“It does not yet appear what we shall be”, says First JOHN, almost mysteriously, but there’s going to be something that goes on and on...movement. In the Apocalypse image, the author says of the saints, “They will serve God, day and night.” Thank goodness for that...some activity...not just sitting around all day, plunking on a harp. “They will serve….”

Isn’t he saying, at least by implication, there’ll be something to DO, some WORK to be done, that will be useful and productive and fulfilling.

Now, I believe in rest. I really do. I’m a staunch advocate of it. And the older I get, the more I seem to appreciate it. The Lord God Jehovah Himself rested, according to Genesis, on the seventh day of creation, and built that requirement into His commandments. Servants of the Lord, like everybody, need periods of rest to let their bodies catch up with their souls, to let themselves be renewed within, to allow the old “spizzerinctum” to be recharged.

When we got back from Mexico, after a solid week of manual labor, followed by an interminable train ride, then strange beds, incessant sight-seeing, the strain of trying to communicate, a wild farewell party, and then fourteen hours of travel home, by train and commercial airline, my poor, wrapped and fragile body had about reached the point of revolt. Nancy, in fact, pointed out that I had a revolting body…. I suppose that’s what she meant.

It took about three solid days and nights before I began to regain some semblance of normalcy.

Rest is important. Most pictorial representations of heaven stress this---“Gonna Lay Down my Burden”, says one great spiritual from the black tradition... “No More Trials, Lord”, says another. Rest at last. For those worn out by trials, exhausted from the weight of burden, it’s a powerful image. BUT ONLY REST, we know...NOTHING but rest, after awhile, leads to stagnancy, Torpor, and soon to total inertness, which is not far removed from death, the very opposite of all heaven stands for.

If the life God offers in Christ, the life over which death has no ultimate jurisdiction...if that life is, indeed, full, abundant, zestful life, as Jesus promised, there has to be some place in it for striving and growing. The God who created human beings from the dust of the earth and breathed into them the breath of His own life, has MORE place for those human beings than this world alone can fulfill. These writers believed that, and deep within us I think we all know it has to be so.

There’ll be more, further challenges, new vistas and opportunities, where people can work, and serve, and keep going and growing in the knowledge of God.

Who are the happiest people you know? Aren’t they those who have immersed themselves in some great undertaking, some great purpose that demands their best effort and commitment? The more they give themselves to it, if it’s a worthy and noble purpose, the richer, and fuller, and finer their lives become. Their fulfillment comes precisely through their self-investment.

Is that any less likely to be true in the next world than in this one? If service fulfills here, if self-giving enriches in this world, what reason is there to believe it won’t be the same in the Beyond?

Heaven is more than just Journey’s End, more than just a place of rest. That first, perhaps, for the weary, beleaguered saints, but soon, the renewed service, the fresh challenge, the new opportunity for growth, for surely in heaven, as well as here, the deepest joy will come not from receiving, but from giving, and sharing, and serving.

3) Now one final image from these two Biblical word pictures of the life on the far side of the grave. I’ll do this last one quickly, even though it’s probably the most important.

In both visions, different as they are, the central figure in the depiction is the Christ, the Christ of hope and glory.

The Lamb seated on the throne in the Apocalyptic version, the focal point of the faithful. In John’s letter, less dramatic, but equally fervent.... “We shall see Him as He is.” IN BOTH VERSIONS, CHRIST IS THE CENTERPIECE.

And it’s this, after all, that makes it heaven, not the splendor, not the fanfare, not the promise of reward, not the prize, nor the climate, nor the furniture.... Those things aren’t what constitute heaven.... What makes it heaven is the presence, the nearness, the eternal, abiding companionship, if you will, of the Crucified and Resurrected One. It’s not the paraphernalia that makes it heaven, it’s the PERSON.

I heard a young woman say one time...overheard her, actually, she wasn’t talking to me. I think she was talking about a certain young man---- At any rate, she said something like this: “I don’t care where we live as long as we can be together.

I’d live with him in Siberia; I’d live with him on an island in the middle of the ocean; I’d camp out with him in a tent, or live in a hovel if there were no other ways we could arrange it. I just want to be with him.” Love, I think, is what she was reflecting.

Well, there’s something very much like that in Christianity, too. That’s why the details aren’t all that important. That’s why these contrasting visions, despite their differences, really aren’t contradictory. And that’s why we can lower our loved ones into the grave without going crazy...for even through that excruciating experience when our hearts nearly break with pain...WE KNOW THEY ARE WITH HIM, WHOM WE TRUST.

It’s what heaven means.

“He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence”, says the writer of the Apocalypse.... “He will guide them to springs of living water...and wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

“It does not yet appear what we shall be”, says the author of First John, “but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

It’s all we have for now...not as we’d like, maybe. But isn’t it all we really need?

Thank you, friends, and pioneers of death and life. We remember you with exceeding great gratitude. And thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.